<i>Background:</i> As intramuscular progesterone administration is associated with local intolerance, the purpose of this work was to determine the local tolerability of a new progesterone microsphere suspension, administered by intramuscular injection. <i>Methods:</i> An observational, longitudinal, prospective, analytical, multicenter, active pharmacovigilance study was conducted. Two hundred and seven progesterone microsphere administrations were evaluated. Patients evaluated pain, burning sensation, pruritus and dysesthesia. Physicians evaluated erythema, pallor, petechia, ecchymosis, bleeding, edema, induration, abscess, macule, papule, vesicle and pustule. Local tolerability was evaluated using a visual analog scale (100-mm line) on the day of administration, and subsequently on days 3 and 7. Local symptoms were evaluated by patients and local signs by the attending physicians. <i>Results:</i> On the day of application, 68.4% of the administered doses were associated with ‘absent’ or ‘mild’ pain, rising to 91.2% on the 7th day; 83.0% of doses were associated with ‘absence’ of or a ‘mild’ burning sensation on the day of administration, rising to 99.5% on day 7. On administration day, 13.2% reported ‘mild’ erythema and 1.0% ‘moderate’ erythema, and 3.9% of doses had ‘mild’ induration and 0.5% ‘moderate’ induration, which increased to 16.6 and 2.9% on day 3, respectively. The values for pallor, ecchymosis, bleeding, edema and pustule were lower than 10 mm (of 100 mm) on the application day and behaved similarly in subsequent days. There were no reports of petechia, abscess, macule, papule or vesicle with the dose application. <i>Conclusions:</i> Progesterone microspheres were well tolerated without serious or unexpected adverse effects.
To evaluate the short term effect over menopausal symptoms and quality of life (QoL) of monthly parenteral formulations of 17β-estradiol (E)/progesterone (P) non-polymeric microspheres.This is a secondary analysis of a multicenter, randomized, single-blinded study that included peri- and post-menopausal symptomatic women assigned to receive a monthly intramuscular injection of 0.5 mg E + 15 mg P (Group A, n = 34), 1 mg E + 20 mg P (Group B, n = 24), or 1 mg E + 30 mg P (Group C, n = 26) for 6 months. Intensity of menopausal symptoms was assessed before and after treatment with the Greene Climacteric Scale (GCS) and QoL with the Utian Quality of Life Scale (UQoLS).Menopausal symptoms improved for all groups at six months evidenced by lower cluster/sub-cluster GCS scores. Equally, there was an overall trend for QoL improvement for all groups evidenced by higher domain UQoLS scores at six months; but only significant for the emotional (Groups A and B) and occupational domains (Groups A and C).The three low-dose continuous sequential intramuscular monthly formulations of E/P microspheres exerted a positive effect over menopausal symptoms and QoL. Long-term research is warranted with these formulations.Clinicaltrials.gov Identifiers NCT 00775242.
To analyze the short-term efficacy and safety over menopausal symptoms of three low-dose continuous sequential 17β-estradiol (E)/progesterone (P) parental monthly formulations using novel non-polymeric microspheres.This was a multicenter, randomized, single blinded study in which peri- and postmenopausal women were assigned to receive a monthly intramuscular injection of 0.5 mg E + 15 mg P (Group A, n = 34), 1 mg E + 20 mg P (Group B, n = 24) or 1 mg E + 30 mg P (Group C, n = 26) for 6 months. Primary efficacy endpoints included mean change in the frequency and severity of hot flushes and the effect over urogenital atrophy symptoms at 3 and 6 months. Safety variables included changes in the rate of amenorrhea, endometrial thickness and histopathology, and local and systemic adverse events.Compared to baseline at month 6, the three treatment schemes significantly decreased the rate of urogenital atrophy symptoms and the frequency (mean number per day) and severity (mean number graded as moderate and severe per month) of hot flushes. No differences in studied efficacy parameters were observed between studied groups at baseline or at the end of the study. For all groups the most frequent adverse event was pain at the injection site; however they were all rated as mild. At the end of the study peri- and postmenopausal women displayed no significant changes in endometrial thickness or histopathology in all treated groups. The rate of amenorrhea at the end of the study decreased for all studied groups yet was less evident among postmenopausal women as compared to perimenopausal ones.The three low-dose continuous sequential intramuscular monthly treatments of E/P using novel microsphere technology were effective at reducing menopausal symptoms at short-term with a low rate of adverse events. More long-term and comparative research is warranted to support our positive findings.